What it's about: In the latest Honor Bound novel, it's postwar 1945 and Cletus Frade is charged with keeping safe the head of the German intelligence's Soviet section; with a Peron-era Argentina as a backdrop.

The buzz: Griffin's thrillers regularly make the top 50 on USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list. "Nothing beats a cinder-block‚??sized adventure novel on a winter weekend," Kirkus Reviews says of Empire and Honor.

2. Never Goin' Back: Winning the Weight-Loss Battle for Good by Al Roker (NAL, non-fiction, on sale Dec. 31)

What it's about: The Today show weatherman, who has kept off the pounds thanks to gastric bypass surgery and eating right, shares his weight-loss story and offers tips ‚?? plus recipes.

The buzz: Roker's may be the biggest (sorry) name among the slew of diet books hitting the marketplace as Americans try to reduce post-holiday waistlines.

What it's about: Louisa (Lou) Clark takes a job as a caretaker for a rich, young, disabled man named Will Traynor ‚?? and despite their differences, they form a (could it be romantic?) bond.

The buzz: Already a best seller in the UK, Me Before You is an Indie Next Pick recommended here by independent booksellers. "If you are looking for a romantic love story that will leave you in happy tears, this is the book for you," says Susan Taylor of Market Block Books in Troy, N.Y.

4. The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War by Fred Kaplan (Simon & Schuster, non-fiction, on sale Jan. 2)

What it's about: Before his spectacular fall at the CIA, General Petraeus led the charge to change the way the military conducted war in the 21st century.

The buzz: "A very readable, thoroughly reported account of how, in American military circles, 'counterinsurgency' became a policy instead of a dirty word," says The New York Times.

5. The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell (Harper, fiction, on sale Jan. 2)

What it's about: A debut novel set in Glasgow, Scotland, about two young sisters who hide the bodies of their drug-dealer parents in their backyard garden.